Process of malting.



H. HEUSER. PROCESS 0F MALTING. APPLIoATIoN FILED 001217, 190s.

Patented Oct. 15,

I agu /ev'mn Heuss?? v HERMAN HEUSER, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF MALTING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ct. 15, 11912.

Application filed October 17, 1908. Serial No. 458,196.

To all whom it may concern:

` Be it known that I, HERMAN HEUSER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stat-e of Illinois, have invented a new and useful'7 Improvement in the Process of Malting, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the first step in the manufacture of malt, to wit, the steep# ing of the grain. As heretofore practised, the mass of grain to be steeped has been submerged in water for the necessary length of time, usually in the neighborhood of fifty hours. During this period t-he water is changed, say, three times. It will thus be seen that the process ,just referred to leaves the grain in contact with'a given body of water for a prolonged period of time, whereby the water becomes rich in extracted grain substances, vparticularly after the grain has begun to soften, and therefore a most. fertile field for the development of the micro-organisms adhering to the grain. Said microorganisms impart to the steeped grain a bad odor known in the art as the stee ed-grain smell. Furthermore, the water ecoming acid through the growth of micro-organisms therein, the vitality of the grain is injuriously affected by the extraction of useful substances from the grain by the water.

,The object of my invention, generally stated, is to conduct tlle steeping operation in such a way as not only to avoid such injury to the grain as is above alluded to, but also to improve the final product by thoroughly cleansing and purifying the grain.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one formof apparatus which may be used in practising my invention, Figure 1 being a diagrammatic View of the apparatus, Fig. 2 a detail plan view of a spraying device, and Fig. 3 a section through saidL device.

In the drawing,.1 indicates a steep tank which may be of any suitable form. As herein shown, the body of the tank is substantially cylindrical and has a conical lower end which communicates with a casing 2 containing a cylindrical strainer 3. In the lower end of the casing 2 is an outlet opening 4 for the steeped grain, said opening being arranged to be closed by a valve 5 that is operated by a hand wheel 6. A tube 7 connects the outlet 4 with a conveyer 8 of any suitable form. Water may be admitted to the steep tank 1 through a supply pipe 9 communicating with the casing 2, said pipe having a valve 10 therein 4which is provided with means, such as a hand wheel 11, whereby the valve may be conveniently operated from the floor 12. -A waste-water pipe 13 also communicates with the casing 2 and leads to a drainage system of any suitable form. In the pipe 13 is avalve 14 having an operating hand-wheel 15.

16 is an over-flow pipe connected with the upper portion of the steep tank 1, and in practise leading to a separator for the skimmings and the water.

Any preferred means may be used for charging the tank 1 withgrain, as, for eX- ample, a'screw conveyer 17 leading from a grain bin (not shown) and provided with a discharge spout 18. The flow of grain through said spout may be controlled in any suitable way, as by a slide 19.

I provide a means for spraying water on the mass -of` grain in the stee tank l said `means in the present embodiment being a sprayinghead 2O rotatably supported'in a r suitable way, as by means of the central tubular stem 21, said stem having a rotative bearing in the lower end of a water-supply pipe 22, The ends of the head 2 0 are closed and in one side of each-branch of said head is a series of perforations 23, said perforations being inclined so as to discharge the Water angularly against the grain in the tank 1. rilhe perforations in one branch are in the side opposite to the perforated side. of the other branch. It will, therefore, be'

seen that, if the water pressure be sufficient, the discharge through the perforatio-ns in the head 2() will cause the latter to be rotated. If desired, the head 20 may b e positively rotated by suitable means, as, for example, a belt 24 running over a grooved pulley 25 on the stem 21.

26 is a valve in the water-supply pipe 22.

Assuming the grain outlet valve 5 and the valves 14 and 26 to be closed, my process vmay be carried out as follows: A suitable quantity of water is admitted to the steep tankl through the lpipe- 9 by opening the valve 10, after which said valve is again closed. Grain is then introduced into the tank 1 vby means of the conveyer' 17. The

valve is then opened for the admission of water into the steep tank to produce` an over-flow through the pipe 16 for the usual length of time, thereby enabling the operator to skim off the light grain and .foreign seeds usually contained in the grain to be malted, the skimmings passing out through the pipe 16. After the skimmings have been removed, the valve 10 is closed.k

When the grain shows the first visible signs of softening (usually about ten hours from the beginning of steeping, the length of`time depending upon' the temperature `of the' steep water* and the character of the grain) the val-ve 14 is opened and the'steep water drawn oLff throughv the pipe 13, the valve 14 being Apermitted to remain open.

lWater .is now sprayed upon the body of Vis used, the spray is approximately in the form of a sheet impinging upon the surfaceofthe bodyl of grain and traveling over said surface in a circuit. The entire surface of the body of grain is uniformly sprayed. The whole mass of4 grain is thoroughly and uniformly steeped, the dust and micro-organisms and other 'impuritiesV being continually washed o lthe grain. It

lwill be seen that the same water does not remain in contact with the grain, and hence does not afford the micro-organisms an opportunity to develop. 'T he kernals in -the upper part of the body of grain being likely to germinate, (particularly toward the end of the steeping operation) unless kept from contact with the air Aby afilm of Water, I

.I preferably continue the spraying without interruption from the time 't is begun until the steeping is completed. The passage of the water upward through the tank, as described, for the purpose of floating off the light grain and foreign seeds may be dispensed with, if desired, and the spraying begun as soon as the grain is charged into the tank, or the spraying may be commenced as soon as the skimmings have been removed. When the grain has beensoftened to the proper degree, the valve 26 is closed, and after the water passing through the tank 1 has drained through the pipe V13, the valve 5 is opened to discharge the steeped 'grain from the tank through the tube 7 and the'conveyer 8. The conveyer 8 may, however, be dispensed with, and the grain removed from the'tank 1 by flooding, in which event the steeping process is concluded by steeping for a brief time, say, about an hour,

in still Water.

The process herein described thoroughly softens and cleanses the 'grain and conserves its vitality, and is of particularly great Value during warm Weather and in the malt- ,ing of grain of decreased vitality, such as old or damaged grain.

The value of my process in the case of old or damaged grain will be readily appreciated when it is remembered that such 4grain imparts to the steep water more bacteria and mold fugi and a greater amount soluble grain substance than does grain in good `condition, and that such excessively charged steep water injuriously adects the already low vitality of the grain.

It will be understood that the apparatus herein described .has been illust-rated merely i to aid in explaining the process, that the process may be practised with other apparat-us, and that the process is susceptible of modification by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. l i f I claim as my invention:

1. In the art of steeping grain in the manufacture of malt, the step ,of passing water through the body of grain until they grain is substantially, softened, said water passing through the body of the grain forthwith Without accumulation.

2. In the art` of steeping grain in the manufacture of malt, the step of discharging water upon the whole exposed surface of the body grain until the grain is subst-antially softened so as to moisten and wash all of the kernels with substantial uniformity, said water passing through the body of the grain forthwith without accumulation. 3. In the art of steeping Orain in the manufacture of malt, the step of passing through the body of grain water descending upon the exposed surface of the body of grain and trickling with substantial uniformity stantially softened'.

1. In the art of malting, `steeping the grain in both still water land-in water descending upon the whole surface of the body gfdgrain and forthwith passing through the 5.y In the art of malting, steeping the grain alternately in still water and in Water descending upon the whole surface of the `body of grain and `forthwith passing through the body.

6. In the `art of malting, steeping the grain in still water, and further steeping the grain with substantial uniformity intrickling water.

7. In the art of malting, steeping the grain alternately in still water and in water sprayed upon the whole surface of the 'body of grain and trickling through lthe bod'y.

8. In, the art of malting, steeping grain by vallowing* the grain to remaln in a given body of watef until the grain shows the first through said body until-the grain is sub-l .1,641,282 f f l signs of softennv and Vthen steeping andmatter in AWalter descending throu hfthe washing the gram. free from undesirable .body of grain, the Water forthwith eavng 10 matteIr inhtrickln Walter. the body. of grain. 1

'9. n t e art o ma tin steepinggrain v f ,5 by allowing the grain to rma'in submerged l g HERMAN HEUSER',

A in a given quantityof 'Water until the grain itnessels:

e shows the irst si s of softening,.and then YGEORGE L. CHINDAHL,

Y lWashing `che gram free from undesiijable v ,CJPAUL IARKER. 

